2B 2015
BOYNES
Understanding the Bible is not always easy, even for those of us who are supposed to educated
in such things. One of the most helpful things is to realize that the Bible is not a book. Its a
collection of books and letters that were written to a particular audience, in a particular time and
place. So understanding the culture of that time and place goes a long way toward
understanding that part of scripture. Some parts of scripture were written to address the
problems or challenges of a certain community.
Our second reading today is from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, to the Christians in the city
of Corinth. Corinth was a seaport in Greece, so the good and bad sides of many cultures were
present. So were the the good and bad sides of the Greek philosophy movement. The
challenge Paul was addressing in our reading today is that some of the Corinthians were
distorting his teaching about the new freedom that was available through Christ, using it to
justify behaviors that are contrary to the dignity of the human person.
Real freedom cannot be contrary to the truth. It doesn't mean "anything goes." That
would be license, not freedom. That's where we get the word "licentiousness." It means doing
whatever we want, without regard to the truth, or the rights of others.
Some believed that
the soul was the only important part of our being, and the body was just a thing to be used as
we wish. (Paul could be writing this letter today.) But that's not what God has revealed to us.
Body and soul are intimately connected during our life on earth, and will be again in the end.
That's what we profess on our Creed, that we believe in "the resurrection of the body." So the
human body has an ultimate dignity which is not ours to discard or ignore.
Paul reminds the Corinthians, and us, that "you are not your own." We're not the source of the
human body, or human life. It's a free gift from God. We are its stewards. We have no place in
determining whether a human life is worthy or not. The only justifiable reason for taking a
human life is defending your own life, or the life of another.
This coming Thursday, January 22nd, is the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade supreme
court decision that made it legal to take the life of a pre-born human being. There's no grey
area here. Pope Francis said, "In reality, in the light of faith and right reason, human life is
always sacred and always 'of quality'...No human life exists that is more sacred than the other,
just like there is no human life more significant than another...(each one) must be loved,
defended and cared for." This speaks to all the various life issues, but we'll just touch on one
today.
The Christian approach is twofold, hate the sin but love the sinner. That's what Jesus did. He
showed mercy and compassion without ignoring or condoning the sin. You know the story of
the woman caught in adultery from John, chapter 8: Jesus saves the life of the woman - "Let he
who is without sin cast the first stone" - but in the end He says to her, "go and sin no more."
Jesus hates sin because He knows the harm and alienation that it causes. He knows that it can
imprison us and take away our freedom. He knows that it alienates us from God and from each
other. It also alienates us from ourselves, because we're made in God's image and likeness.
(Genesis 1:26-27)
He has compassion for us not just in our illness or other challenges in life, but also in our
sins. The word compassion means to "suffer with." He's truly able to suffer with us in our sins
because of the Incarnation, because He took on our human nature so completely and knows
what it is to be tempted by sin. Hebrews 4:15 talks about Jesus as the compassionate High
Priest: "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but
one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - but did not sin."
Pope Francis says that it's false compassion to believe that abortion is somehow helpful
for women. I've come to realize this in a powerful way through a ministry called Rachel's
Vineyard. I've journeyed with women and men who've made this terrible choice, and come to
know the terrible harm it does to them: the tremendous guilt and the psychological burden they
often carry for many years, which can also lead to other harmful behaviors. The false belief that
they're unworthy of God's forgiveness.
But I've also seen the tremendous healing that comes about when they experience the
compassion of Christ and His Church. I've seen some of them become the most powerful prolife witnesses that you can imagine. Who is better able to convince a mother they're making the
wrong choice?
There's a Rachel's Vineyard retreat being planned for the first weekend of May up in
Conway. We'll have more information available in the coming weeks. If you know someone
who has this burden in their life, I beg you to get them in touch with this ministry.
There's another dimension we need to think about. How do we help mothers who face difficult
situations and choices? We can support adoption agencies like Catholic Human Services,
which receives part of our CSA donations. We can support pregnancy care centers and
women's shelters. We can help our Knights of Columbus when they raise money for ultrasound
machines which are donated to pregnancy care centers, and have changed many hearts...and
saved many lives.
As a Church, we need to be pro-life in all its dimensions. Before Francis was Pope, he was the
archbishop of Buenos Aires. He was critical of some of his priests, who would not baptize the
baby of a single mother. He said, "These are today's hypocrites...who separate the people of
God from salvation. And this poor girl who, rather than returning the child to sender, had the
courage to carry it into the world, must wander from parish to parish to have her baby baptized."
Now I don't know of anyplace in this diocese where that happens, but the point is there
for all of us...whether you're a priest or not:
Are we pro-life in all its dimensions?
Are we forgiving and compassionate as a Church, the Body of Christ?
Are we forgiving and compassionate as individual members of that body?
If we call ourselves followers of Christ, if we want a share in His New Life, there's
no other way.
So it's a great challenge for us:
Can we have compassion for each other in our sins, yet still uphold God's truth?
Yes we can, but only by God's grace.
And that's why we're here.